posted 10-17-1999 05:20 PM            

From the illustration of the pattern it is easy to understand the attraction as the beauty and quality abound with equal attention given to the backs
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William B. Durgin was an old time maker dating back to 1853 and known for unsurpassed quality. The pieces are not only beautiful but heavy and delightful to hold. The only question about this pattern was why it was not more popular and is so scarce today. Indeed Gorham has seen to revive it as one of it's current classic offerings.

Dating
Hagan gives the origination date of Dauphin as 1897. Turner says "circa 1900". Turner does not list it as obsolete by 1929. Gorham bought Durgin in 1905 but continued to produce new patterns under the mark into the 1950's. The Gorham "revival" pieces are marked Gorham and do not bare the Durgin script "D". From the scarcity of place pieces one would think that it did not survive the 1930's but there is no evidence that would confirm dating.

Pieces Available
As can be seen from Osterberg's book a complete line of Dauphin was available. It is interesting that I see more servers than place pieces, which means it was a favorite for gifts.

Shown in the photo are (left to right):
Item length our cost
Salad Fork 6 1/4" $90.00
Luncheon Fork 7" $65.00
Dinner Fork 7 1/2" $75.00
Dinner Knife(SS) 9 1/2" $96.00
Bouillon Spoon 5 3/4" $54.00
Teaspoon 5 7/8" $38.00

Photo:

Key Pieces
Antique Cupboard who bought Osterberg's collection has a good supply of Dauphin on hand. I am not sure how much of what is left is old Durgin or new Gorham. The prices at this time are for new vas old very similar and are a bit higher than what we paid 3 years ago. I note that the luncheon fork is quite a bit higher than the dinner for which might mean that Gorham does not reproduce it. Of course a real Durgin salad fork (four tines) and not a pastry fork is a challenge and you will note that I do not have an old original knife, but settled for the new Gorham version. For some reason demis and butter spreaders still have escaped our grasp. We have bid for demis on ebay and stopped as they went well over $100.00 . I have seen a butter spreader in Osterberg's book, although he did not have any in his collection and we have yet to have a shot at one or a group.

Comments
Original Durgin Dauphin is a beautiful and challenging pattern for pursuit by the collector. Even the modern Gorham issue is worth having until you can fill in.